Sunshine, Freedom, and Flowers
by AgentT
Summary: Max and Logan go to a street fair...


  
"You can almost forget the smell of garbage." Max commented as they walked through the large foray of people.  
  
"Did you choose to be pessimistic today?" Logan asked, smiling.   
  
Max smiled back and stepped aside just in time as an old woman speaking Spanish led her young child through, carrying several handmade baskets.   
  
"Ever try one of these?" Logan asked, handing her a large and somewhat sticky lollipop.   
  
"I did once. It's not really safe to be holding one while riding." She cocked her head and twirled the round candy.   
  
"Dunk the clown!" A voice said.   
  
Max's eyes fell to a large tank of water. A sorry looking representation of a clown sat on a plank, jeering at the various members of the crowd.   
  
"You know, for a third world country that barely has any resources, they really are carefree with their water supply." She said.   
  
"Just living is not enough... One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower." Logan said.   
  
Max looked at him. "Who said that?"  
  
"Hans Christian Andersen."   
  
"The fairy tale guy?"   
  
Logan stopped. He looked up at the brunette, looking back at him. She was so smart. And yet…  
  
"Yeah." Logan said. He smiled. "The Little Mermaid, I presume?"  
  
Max thought for a minute. "Not quite. More like The Ugly Duckling."   
  
"With stealth capabilities and gravity defying leaps." He said, as they continued through the fair.   
  
Max sniffed and smelled the odor of straw. She looked beside her and saw the same Spanish woman she had seen earlier, sitting down with her baskets. She was weaving while her child, a young girl, played with one of the pieces of straw, weaving it with another piece. She smiled and Max smiled back.   
  
"So how are your throwing skills?" Logan asked, knowing that it was redundant to ask.   
  
"People say I throw like a girl." She said.   
  
Max stooped down and picked up a ball. She hefted it in her hands and felt the leather against her palm. She fished out a few dollar bills and handed them to a young boy who was collecting money.   
  
"You think you can beat me?" The clown asked, pointing to Max.   
  
"You think you could shut up? Bad breath is a real distraction." She shouted in her sweetest voice.   
  
The crowd murmured as she said it. A ripple of mumbling went through as she threw the ball. Of course, it landed straight on target, dunking the clown into the water.   
  
Max smiled in satisfaction and watched the clown get out of the tank and skulk away, defeated.   
  
"Congratulations." A man said, coming up to her. "You're the first one to dunk the jerk."   
  
"I do my best for humanity." She said.   
  
Logan and Max walked through the streets again, watching people pass them.   
  
"So this is a street fair." She said.  
  
"Yep. Hey, look." He pointed to a man in the corner of one small section playing the guitar.   
  
Max stood for a second, concentrating on the music wafting through the air.   
  
"It's nice." She said. "I like it."   
  
"The blues." Logan said.   
  
"They sound like it. But I guess they can really make people happy." She said, her body silently waving to the beat of the guitar.   
  
They passed the woman and her child again and this time Max pulled out some money. She smiled at the little girl, who by then had converted her small piece of straw into a small box.   
  
Max purchased a basket and her fingers traced the intricate blue and purple embroidery on the front. They were in the shape of flowers and leaves.  
  
"It's beautiful." Logan remarked as she held it in her left hand.   
  
"It really is." She said. Max felt a tug at her shirt then.   
  
She turned and looked down. The little girl was standing behind her, and she held up a flower.   
  
"Thank you." Max said as the girl smiled and ran back to her mother's baskets.   
  
"Hey, you got your little flower." Logan said, reminding her of the quote.   
  
Max shrugged. "I guess so." She looked at the blue flower, it's petals fluttering in the mild breeze.   
  
The clouds were moving again, signaling rain in the day. Many others had seen this and had started to pack up, leaving their sections slightly bare and empty, like skeletons.   
  
"We came a bit late. It's ending soon." Logan said, as he watched a family pack up their merchandise.   
  
"I had fun." Max said, smelling her flower.   
  
The sky erupted then, but no rain came. Instead, for whatever reason deemed upon them that day, the sun came out, embracing everyone with warmth.   
  
Max and Logan squinted at the sunlight.   
  
"I think it's going to be a nice day." Max said.  
  
"I think so too."   
  
"Want to go to the park?" She asked.   
  
"Sure." Logan said.   
  
They started walking beyond the fair boundaries then, Max holding her sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
